LEON HENDRIX
WOOD TV
Reprinted with Permission

PENNFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - Two people died in an apartment fire that displaced many families early Sunday morning in Calhoun County.


Officials told 24 Hour News 8 the blaze started in a second-floor apartment at a building in the Pines at Pennfield, 1423 Capital Avenue NE. Officials have not yet released the names of the man and woman who died.

About a dozen units were damaged or destroyed by fire, smoke and water. Everyone living in that building was evacuated, including Tim Williams and his family. They lived one floor up from where the fire started.

Williams told 24 Hour News 8 he thought he was dreaming when he first smelled smoke between 5 and 6 in the morning, but quickly realized it was really happening.

"The door literally on the inside was already smoking up and on the inside starting to turn black because of the heat," said Williams. "My instinct is just to grab my family as quick as possible and just get them out."

But when they tried to open the door into the hallway, they were pushed back by heat and thick smoke, Williams said. He added they had to go onto their outside balcony and climb down fire ladders to safety.

Pennfield Township's fire chief said the fire burned so quickly that by the time smoke detectors went on in apartments, smoke and flames were too strong for people to escape into the outer hallway. The WIlliamses weren't the only ones who had to escape to outside balconies.

The fire chief said the blaze started in Unit 30, which is located on the back side of the complex.

Officials said the township's fire department was dispatched around 5:40 a.m., but at this point don't know how long the fire had been burning before that.

"[It was] like a big bon fire," said Elaine Melendez, who lived in a neighboring apartment building. "[The fire] was huge in the sky. You couldn't get really close."

Melendez told 24 Hour News 8 she woke up and called 911 when she heard a young woman yelling for help. Melendez rushed over to see a young mother drop two young children from a third-floor unit into the waiting arms of a Good Samaritan, then jumped herself.

Melendez later took the mother and two children into her home to shelter them from the cold temperatures outside. She said all three were checked out by rescue personnel and are fine.

After the fire was extinguished, investigators found the bodies of a man and woman in the rubble of the complex.

"There was a guy that was in the hallway we tried to get to him," said Melendez. "We just seen him pacing back and forth as he burned but there was nothing we could do. This is a really big tragedy. This is a lot for all of us who live out here."

Everyone who lived in the complex was evacuated. Williams told 24 Hour News 8 the local American Red Cross provided food and clothing for those evacuated, and even put several residents in a hotel.

Although Williams and his family lost a lifetime of possessions in just a few hours, he said they are trying to focus on the positive.

"The shock of losing everything really hasn't hit us just yet," said Williams. "But that's not a big worry, those are material things you can replace those things."

Officials said the cause of the fire is still under investigation but that it does not appear to be suspicious. The state fire marshal has been called in to investigate.